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GPD Win 3 vs Steam Deck – Which should you choose?

Hello! With the Steam Deck being recently announced, we at DroiX felt it would be of interest to provide a comparison between these two hot-topic gaming handhelds. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your current gaming setup, or are simply curious about how the two stack up, we hope you find this comparison of the GPD Win 3 vs the Steam Deck useful!

What is the GPD Win 3?

GPD WIN 3 i7 Space Grey New AAA Gaming Portable Handheld showing sliding keyboard
GPD Win 3 Frontal View – Keyboard Visible

The GPD Win 3 is a recently released gaming handheld that is powered by an 11th generation Intel processor.

It was successfully crowdfunded in March of this year, and after some time, has now released, with both the i5 and i7 Win 3 being available to buy in the UK and Worldwide from DroiX and other retailers.

The GPD Win 3’s claim to fame is being a handheld that can comfortably play AAA games (many at 60FPS). Surprisingly, it can play AAA games with little-to-no issue, at high framerates too!

At the moment, the GPD Win 3 is also currently the only handheld gaming PC to feature a built-in keyboard. Hidden behind the display (which you can slide up) is a backlit, capacitive touch keyboard. Making it easier to enter credentials in games and when browsing the web.

What is the Steam Deck?

Steam Deck Frontal View
Steam Deck Frontal View

The Steam Deck is a recently announced gaming handheld. While not the first gaming handheld on the market, the Steam Deck is extremely notable due to it’s high-profile origins (coming from Valve – owners of what many consider to be the face of modern PC gaming – Steam).

Valve have had a mixed history when it comes to hardware distribution. On one hand, you have their highly successful VR headset, the Valve Index. On the other hand, you have their various failures such as the ill-received Steam Machines and now discontinued Steam Controller. So it’s really anybody’s guess as to how the Steam Deck will perform in the long run.

Much like the Win 3, the Steam Deck’s claim to fame is also being able to run AAA games. Without any real benchmarks out in the wild at the time of writing however, it’s difficult to say how well it will be perform.

The minimum targeted framerate for most games on the Steam Deck is 30FPS. But many games will apparently run higher than that.

GPD Win 3 vs Steam Deck – A Technical Specification Comparison

We’ve compiled a collection of specs for the GPD Win 3 vs the Steam Deck in the below table. If we’ve missed anything, please feel free to comment!

CategoryGPD Win 3Steam Deck
ProcessorIntel Core i5 1135G7 (Quad-core, 2.4-4.2GHz)
Intel Core i7 1165G7 )Quad-core, 2.8-4.7GHz)
Custom AMD Zen 2 APU (Quad-core, 2.4-3.5GHz)
GraphicsIntel Iris Xe GraphicsCustom RDNA 2 Graphics
RAM16GB LPDDR4x (@4266MHz)16GB LPDDR5 (@5500MT/s)
Storage Options1TB M.2 NVMe64GB eMMC
256GB M.2 NVMe
512GB M.2 NVMe
Storage ExpansionmicroSD
M.2 NVME
microSD
M.2 NVMe
ScreenTouch-enabled
5.5 Inches
1280x720p (16:9)
IPS
Touch-enabled
7 Inches
1280x800p (16:10)
IPS
Wi-FiIEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax (WiFi 6)IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (WiFi 5)
Bluetooth5.05.0
ControlsA B X Y buttons
D-pad
L & R analog triggers
L & R bumpers
2x Assignable grip buttons
2x analog sticks; clickable (L3/R3)
Start & Select buttons
Xbox Guide button
A B X Y buttons
D-pad
L & R analog triggers
L & R bumpers
View & Menu buttons
4x assignable grip buttons
2x capacitive touch analog sticks; clickable (L3/R3)
2x trackpads
Ports1x USB Type-C (Thunderbolt 4)
1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
1x 3.5mm headphone jack
1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (w/ DP 1.4 Alt-mode)
1x 3.5mm headphone jack.
Other FeaturesFingerprint sensor
Built-in rumble
Capacitive touch keyboard
Controller/Mouse Mode Toggle Switch
eGPU Compatible
Docking Station Compatible
Gyroscope
Ambient light sensor
Stereo microphone
Built-in rumble
Docking Station Compatible
Battery~45Whr; approx. 3-8 hours of gameplay~40Whr; approx. 2-8 hours of gameplay
Size198mm x 92mm x 27mm298mm x 117mm x 49mm
Weight~550g~669g
Price£869.95
£989.98
£349.00
£459.00
£569.00
Steam Deck vs GPD Win 3 Comparison

GPD Win 3 vs Steam Deck – Which is better?

On the matter of the GPD Win 3 vs the Steam Deck, it is difficult to say which one is better. It ultimately depends on your use case.

The GPD Win 3 is a released, finalized handheld gaming console. With many performance benchmarks you can currently check out all across Youtube, and just reviews for the GPD Win 3 in general, it’s easier to get an idea of what you’re getting into.

Meanwhile the Steam deck has no real production models out in the wild as of now. Only Steam Deck prototypes exist. Coupled with the fact that the Steam Deck uses a custom APU instead of an already existing model, there is not even a real-world reference that we can extrapolate data from.

Overall, while more expensive, we’d believe the Win 3 to be the more powerful high-end option for handheld gaming. Unless Valve are selling the Steam Deck at a loss, it is unlikely that they’ll be able to outperform the Win 3 at the given price points.

The GPD Win 3 also has the advantage of being compatible with external GPUs, meaning it can function as a fully-fledged gaming PC in its own right.

As a note, both models are compatible with docking stations – which noticeably increase the device’s connectivity. The GPD Win 3’s docking station can be purchased here.

Both the Steam Deck and GPD Win 3 can be connected to docking stations, allowing for more conventional use.

When is the Steam Deck being released?

The current ETA for the Steam Deck depends on when you were able to snatch up a pre-order, and on the model you’ve chosen!

Early reservations can expect for shipping to begin in December 2021. However, due to extremely high demand, if you try to place an order now (as of 27/07/2021), the expected availability for the Steam Deck is currently after Q2 2022. So if you place an order right this moment, you probably won’t be seeing your unit for around a year at the earliest.

If you can’t wait for an AAA handheld gaming experience, we’d recommend going for the GPD Win 3 which you can purchase here, as well as browse other gaming handhelds.

Bringer of videos, text and images! AKA the social media guy at DroiX. Massive retro gaming fan and collector, with a far too large collection of consoles and computers from 1970's to modern.